what happens when a referral is made to an nhs specialist from a gp but the patient is physically unable to attend?

5 comments

1. If you miss an appointment twice, you get referred back to your GP.

   There is help available if the patient needs physical assistance getting to the hospital – https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/advice-and-information/2019-09-26/do-you-need-help-travelling-nhs-services

2. If the GP is aware they are bedbound, it should be highlighted on the referral.

   If they need to be seen in a clinical setting, transport on stretchers or in wheelchairs can be arranged. If they are able to get downstairs and get out of the front door.

3. This happened to me in 2012. I had 2 herniated discs and was bedbound. They sent patient transport and hauled me downstairs in one of those “sack barrow” patient chairs, into the patient transport ambulance that has a bed as well as seats and gave me a canister of entonox for the potholes and away I went. As long as you are logged as bedbound by your gp they won’t expect you to make your own way there.

4. Patient Transport Service comes to get you in a non emergency ambulance.

5. They book a “stretcher ambulance” was the term they used.

   My granddad had an appointment yesterday for 2:45pm with the ambulance booked for 2pm several weeks in advance. It didn’t show up though, and no one knows why so they just made a new appointment for next month and said hopefully they’ll not be as busy.

   It’s been 50/50 of whether they show up or not, and the ones that do are usually 2-3 hours late. It just shows how extremely busy and overstretched they are atm.